


The Seven Secrets of Professor Yung

by prudence_dearly



Category: Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:29:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5657791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prudence_dearly/pseuds/prudence_dearly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Professor Jung is good at keeping secrets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seven Secrets of Professor Yung

Professor Jung is good at keeping secrets.

He is a poet, scholar, politician, teacher - he is even quite good at juggling. But keeping secrets is perhaps his most carefully cultivated talent, and yet the one which is, of course, the least admired.

 

**One**

The question of Geumdeungjisa has been rattling around his head for days, keeping him awake, distracting him from his studies. His visit to his teacher’s house is unannounced and unexpected, but he trusts in Kim Seung-Hun’s hospitality and his understanding. Professor Kim knows how troubled he has been; he has a way of settling his mind.

When he arrives, it is to the sound of lessons, which is to be expected, but the little spy by the door is a surprise. The girl crouched outside her father’s study is a picture of concentration, despite the cold, despite his own interruption.

He has not met her before, but he has heard Kim Seung-Hun speak of his children. The man is clearly enchanted with them, and Jung Yak-Yong begins to see why.

He will remember that night very clearly - an excellent memory is another of his gifts. Years later, he will take another nighttime walk as the pieces fall into place. He will remember the first time the child argued with him, her indignant face as she put him in his place. “I am not my mother. I am myself.”

Kim Seung-Hun sends his son away when his favourite student arrives, and they sit together with wine. The professor eases Jung’s mind, as he knew he would. When Jung finally stands to leave, late at night, he observes, casually, that the master has been blessed with clever children. He sees that his teacher knows there are two small scholars in the household. But nothing is said.

 

**Two**

The little girl he met that night, the only daughter of his friend, has evidently not changed much over the years. Her mother’s determined scolding, her father’s untimely death, her brother’s illness - if all these things have not deterred her from studying, what good can his words do?

He tries to speak sense to her, to make her understand the danger she is in. But she is captivated by twin passions: the scholarly pursuit of knowledge, and the more worldly discovery of what it is to belong.

The fear he hopes to spark, to send her running back to her mother’s house, settles on his heart instead. Every day, the threat of discovery grows. She has already drawn the attention of the king. Jung tries to protect her. But she seems determined to stir up as much trouble as possible.

 

**Three**

It seems peculiar to Professor Jung, that bearer of an almost unsupportable weight of secrets, to keep things hidden unnecessarily. Kim Seung-Hun was a brilliant scholar, a gifted teacher, a confidant of the king himself. There is no reason that Professor Jung can see to keep that knowledge from his children.

But, of course, a mother knows her daughter. The example of her father would only serve to encourage the girl along inadvisable pathways. And it is clear the girl has so far needed no encouragement.

It is a shame, though, to keep the truth from Kim Yoon-Hee. When one has known a great man, worked and laughed with him, and grieved his death, one wants to speak of him with others who loved him, too.

 

**Four**

He follows Mrs Kim home after the university open day. It is extremely foolish and unbecoming of him, but he does it anyway. He tells himself it is to ensure she travels home safely. He can check on her wellbeing and that of her household, for the sake of Kim Seung-Hun. He might even ascertain whether, by some wild chance, she knows something of Geumdeungjisa.

Lies, all of it. He could find Kim Yoon-Shik’s address in the student registry and visit during the day, in the open. He could make discreet enquiries about her household, about the boy missing from his place at Sungkyunkwan. Instead, he follows her home.

It is a house in what was once a better neighbourhood. Not the home Kim Seung-Hun made, but a different place: smaller, shabbier. It is well-kept, its pathway swept and steps clean, but there is no disguising the poverty.

It is a sad sight, Professor Kim Seung-Hun’s widow fallen upon such hard times. A true friend would act. He would offer assistance - money, food, repairs to the house, whatever was needed. She wouldn’t accept, of course. A woman with pride would not take charity, not even from a beloved friend of her husband, offered in honour of his memory. The only correct thing to do would be to offer her more: his name, his stipend, the security of marriage.

The dream evaporates in the blink of an eye. Professor Jung has moments of foolishness, like any man, but he overcomes them. Kim Yoon-Hee is already a diligent student who is providing for her family. A true friend would assist the girl, not shame the widow with offers of money and marriage.

Kim Seung-Hun had told him a little, here and there, about his beloved wife, how she severed ties with her family to be with him, how their love-match upheld him in difficult times, how his wife was clever and quiet and funny. Not the woman Professor Jung saw at Sungkyunkwan that day, bowed down with worry and sorrow. She is still beautiful, though.

He walks back to the university beside the river, breathing the fresh evening air and clearing his head.

 

**Five**

Professor Jung looks out over their bowed heads as they write their tests for today. Sons of politicians, bureaucrats, bankers, doctors, and even some traders, though those boys keep their heads down and their fathers' work a secret. Here they sit, studying the texts as scholars have done for generations. And as they will continue to do.

Some things do not change - Professor Jung knows that much. Within this classroom are the same men who have ruled Joseon over centuries. The same factions, allegiances and ancient animosities made new again in these young men.

His gaze lingers on Lee Seun-Joon. A promising young man indeed, but still made in the mould of his father and grandfather. Mun Jae-Shin, lounging at the back of the classroom, meets Professor Jung’s wandering gaze with hooded eyes. Even he, the rebellious thug, is from a noble lineage. He drinks and fights and defies his father, thinking that he is the first boy ever to do so.

There are only two scholars here who are truly new to Sungkyunkwan.

Kim Yoon-Hee. Her head is bowed over her writing desk, but as she looks up to dip her pen in the ink, he can see that she is smiling. She loves her work.

And behind her, Gu Yong-Ha, his hand lifted delicately over his parchment as he considers his answer.

The boy’s father is a merchant. He sits there, wearing the airs and graces of a nobleman as easily as tomorrow’s fashions, surrounding himself with friends who are the sons of great men. To be found out would mean a humiliating retreat to the background with the other drab and unassuming sons of commoners. The destruction of the most glamorous creature in the university.

Joseon is changing. Even without the Geumdeungjisa. Even without his majesty. Almost imperceptibly, like a rising tide. One day, the girls will not pretend to be boys. One day, the merchants’ children will wear their family names with pride.

 

**Six**

The Red Writer sheds his own blood as freely as he drops leaflets.

Professor Jung keeps a calm exterior, but he is furious.

What is it about these young hot-heads that leads them to risk their lives? They are children. Passionate, half-educated, full of certainty. A person might, when a man, devote his life to his king, to his gods, to his cause or to the love of his life. But these children, running around Sungkyunkwan in their disguises, throw their lives down in a moment’s passion, without thought to the consequences.

First, Kim Yoon-Hee, the determined girl blinded by her own brilliance. Can she not see that if she is caught - when she is caught - the king himself, who loved her father, who is near to making her a favourite of the court as well, will have her executed, and her mother and brother, too. He will have no choice. A just king cannot overturn the laws of the land because they do not suit him.

Mun Jae-Shin is the same. Older, angrier, carried along on the wave of his own convictions. Thrashing around in his grief and righteous fury, close to knocking down the house of cards so delicately constructed by the king, the delicate balance of people, time and place which might allow real change to happen.

Professor Jung leaves medicine in the ritual room, intercepts the university porters, reminds the city soldiers they are not allowed on Sungkyunkwan grounds. When his fellow professors gossip about their students, he distracts them, throwing them off the scent. He spars with Ha In-Soo, a dangerously volatile young man with far more power than is healthy. He helps the king avoid issuing execution orders. And, eventually, he warns the boy directly. But it makes no difference.

These impetuous children, the trusted scholars of the king himself, will bring Joseon down around them if they are not careful.

 

**Seven**

Professor Jung is the one who buys the poppy. He brings it to the palace and silently replenishes the king’s supply. He sweeps up the dust and disposes of it. He airs the room.

He finds a doctor they can trust.

He speaks to the king’s personal chef and impresses upon the man the importance of a change in diet and the advisability of keeping that change to himself.

He quashes rumours among the ministers. He reassures the courtiers. He avoids the questions of the Sungkyunkwan scholars.

And it is he who sits at the king’s elbow and guides him through certain preparations, insurances, legal requirements.

They do not speak about why such things are necessary.

He knows his king is dying, but he cannot have the words said aloud. It is one secret he will keep from himself, for as long as he can.


End file.
